Recipients of the inaugural Seed Funding for Early Stage Initiatives program. Learn more about each funded project and its affiliated UCSC collaborators.
2022 Seed Grant Recipients
Jorgge Menna Barreto, Assistant Professor, Environmental Art
“Dehydrated Landscapes”
A project led by assistant professor in environmental art, Jorgge Menna Barreto.
Rebecca Braslau, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
“Development of Heterogeneous Catalysts to Upcycle PVC Waste”
A project led by professor of chemistry and biochemistry Rebecca Braslau, in collaboration with Scott Oliver, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
Terrence Blackburn, Assistant Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
“Reconstructing the past collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet”
A project led by associate professor of earth and planetary sciences Terrence Blackburn, in collaboration with Slawek Tulaczyk, professor of earth and planetary sciences.
Saskias Casanova, Assistant Professor, Psychology
“Cultivating the Transfer Landscape: Assessing Racial Equity for Community College Transfers”
A project led by assistant professor of psychology Saskias Casanova, in collaboration with director of Services for Transfer and Re-entry Students (STARS) Sara Radoff, director of HSI initiatives Charis Herzon (HSII), and graduate student Valeria Alonso Blanco.
Shelly Chan, Assistant Professor, History
“Transnational China Research Hub”
A project led by associate professor of history Shelly Chan, in collaboration with Minghui Hu, associate professor of history, Benjamin Read, department chair of politics, and Yiman Wang, professor of film and digital media.
Camilla Forsberg, Professor, Biomolecular Engineering
“Advancing Stem Cell Biology with CRISPR”
A project led by Camilla Forsberg, professor of biomolecular engineering, in collaboration with assistant professor of biomolecular engineering Ali Shariati, assistant professor of biomolecular engineering Daniel Kim, and professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology Susan Carpenter.
Leilani Gilpin, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
“Robustifying Machine Learning for Safe and Secure Autonomous Vehicles”
A project led by assistant professor of computer science and engineering Leilani Gilpin, in collaboration with Alvaro Cardenas, associate professor of computer science and engineering, Daniel Fremont, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, and Cihang Xie, assistant professor of computer science and engineering.
Kathleen Gutierrez, Assistant Professor, History
“Lost Stories of Asian American Labor: Research & Planning for an Integrated Exhibit of Arts and Oral History from the Pajaro Valley”
A project led by assistant professor of history Kathleen Gutierrez, in collaboration with Steve McKay, associate professor of sociology, Nathaniel Deutsch, director of the Humanities Institute, graduate students Christina Plank and Meleia Simon-Reynolds.
Michael Hance, Associate Professor, Physics
“Thin Films for Next Generation Tracking Detectors”
A project led by associate professor of physics Michael Hance, in collaboration with Anthony Affolder, research scientist and adjunct professor of Santa Cruz Institute of Particle Physics (SCIPP), Vitaliy Fadeyev, research scientist and adjunct professor of SCIPP, Alex Grillo, research physicist in physics, and Jason Nielsen, director of SCIPP.
Joshua Harrison, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Force Majeure
“FIRES NEXT TIME”
A project led by co-director of the Center for the Study of the Force Majeure Joshua Harrison, in collaboration with Kai Zhu, associate professor of environmental studies, and Katia Obraszka, professor of computer science and engineering.
Rekia Jibrin, Assistant Professor, Education
“Ethnic Studies Research Collaboration with Santa Cruz County Office of Education”
A project led by assistant professor of education Rekia Jibrin, in collaboration with Josephine H. Pham, assistant professor of education, Daisy Martin, director of History and Civics Project, Cynthia Lewis, professor and chair of education, Christine Hong, associate professor of critical race and ethnic studies.
John Jota Leanos, Professor, Film and Digital Media
“Eureka! “
A project led by professor of film and digital media John Jota Leanos.
Irene Lusztig, Professor, Film and Digital Media
“RICHLAND”
A project led by professor of film and digital media Irene Lusztig.
Sara Niedzwiecki, Associate Professor, Politics
“Immigration and Social Policy in Latin America: Barriers for Inclusion”
A project led by associate professor of politics Sara Niedzwiecki.
Eric Palkovacs, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
“Combining aDNA and stable isotope analysis to reconstruct 6,000 years of salmon life history diversity”
A project led by Eric Palkovacs, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, in collaboration with assistant project scientist for the Institute of Marine Sciences Malte Willmes, associate researcher for the Institute of Marine Sciences Rachel Johnson, adjunct professor of ocean sciences John Carlos Garza, physical and biological sciences dean Paul Koch, and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Beth Shapiro.
Donald Potts, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
“Novel coral reef restoration without generating harmful chlorine”
A project led by professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Donald Potts, in collaboration with Nobby Kobayashi, professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Zouheir Rezki, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
“Enhancing Security of Data Networks via Cross-Layer Device Fingerprinting Techniques“
A project led by assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Zouheir Rezki, in collaboration with Katia Obraczka, professor of computer science and engineering.
Alicia Riley, Assistant Professor, Sociology
“The Lasting Impact of Structural Racism and Racial Violence on Cognitive Health in Later Life”
A project led by assistant professor in sociology Alicia Riley.
Chad Saltikov, Professor, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology
“Developing protective biofilms that inhibit microbial-induced corrosion”
A project led by professor of the microbiology and environmental toxicology department Chad Saltikov, in collaboration with Fitnat Yildiz, professor and chair of microbiology and environmental toxicology, and Yat Li, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.